Tacky the Penguin Freebie!

Do your students LOVE Tacky?! Mine do and doing a little book study on Tacky the Penguin is one of my favorite things to do in January.

I recently uploaded my Tacky the Penguin unit which is filled with comprehension, vocabulary, and reading response questions for 6 different Tacky books.

I thought I would share a couple free pages from my unit for you to use! 

The following two pages are for the book Tacky and the Emperor:

If you like these, check out the whole unit for more :)

Enjoy!

We {HEART} GoNoodle

All of us Blog Hoppin' ladies are HUGE GoNoodle fans.  Do you GoNoodle with your kiddos?  It's Erica Bohrer and Anna Brantely,  here to share our love for GoNoodle and link up with Elizabeth Hall.

GoNoodle is a compilation of brain breaks that you can choose from, add your own to, and earn points for completing.  It is fun and easy to use.

Can you tell I am a fan? I got to meet the GoNoodle ladies in Vegas and they were a blast. - Erica

Here are photos of my kiddos getting down with GoNoodle. -Erica

My kids BEG me to GoNoodle!! It seriously saved us from going crazy when we didn't have recess due to the cold weather!! Here are a few pictures of them enjoying their brain break time. -Anna

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GoNoodle recently added the feature where you can insert your favorite YouTube videos.  I love this because it cuts out the commercials!  Here is my (Erica's) YouTube channel, if you are looking for some links to add to your GoNoodle account. 

On to the link up....

My favorite brain break: I love the Happy song!  Just a great mood lifter.   

My favorite happy place:  I love going out on my boat in the summer.  I just feel like I am free from technology and responsibility out on the water.  

My guilty pleasure: I love designer bags.   I don't know what really makes them better besides the designer label, but oh they are just so beautiful.   I do have major buyers guilt for spending so much money.  I try to limit myself to one fancy bag a year. 

Keep Calm and...  take it one day at a time.  Very cliche I know, but it is what keeps my stress down.  

My favorite brain break: My students and I love, love, love Roller Coaster!!    

My favorite happy place: I love being at home with my family!!  

My guilty pleasure: Finding great deals on Zulily way too much! My husband swears there is a Zulily bag in our mailbox every day. I just can't help myself!! 

Keep Calm and... Let it Go....really trying not sweat the small stuff this year! 

Thanks for checking out our GoNoodle love-fest!  

Don't forget to link up with Elizabeth!

Intro to Time Unit and Freebie

Hi everyone!  This is Katie King from Queen of the First Grade Jungle!  

Life has been CRAZY busy at the King house lately (you can read ALL about that on this post if you would like),  but I have just popped in to show how our Time unit is going in my 2nd grade room!

 We reviewed Parts of a Clock and Time to the Hour using our trusty friend BrainPop Jr. 

Time is a PERFECT unit to keep things really hands on for a while!  I love how these clocks show the kids how the hour hand moves closer towards the next number as the minute hand goes around.  It really helps them understand the way analog clocks work!

We also are using posters from my Time Tutor Unit! These serves as great visual reminders for my kids!

I also made this printable for homework one night next week. I was surprised to realize how hard A.M. and P.M. was for my kids last year, but I think I am a little better prepared for the challenge this year!  Just click on the graphic to snag the freebie!

Next week we will get into more pencil paper AND go all the way to 5 minutes, but for the first week back from Christmas Break---I think my kids rocked it!

Come check me out for more ideas and freebies!

Free Heart Paper Overlays

Hi there Blog Hoppers - this is Mel, from Graphics from the Pond.



I have a short, but sweet post for you today. I made some FREE digi papers for you. I have called these 'overlays' as you can lay them over the top of any digi paper or background image you already have, and some pretty white hearts will appear!

There are 6 different overlays in the set, and you can 

grab them from Google Drive by clicking HERE

Give your next teaching or classroom resource a sweet twist, by adding one of these papers to your background. They will work on any background, except white! 

Have a great day and thank you so much for hopping over to our blog!

Super Sentences ALL.DAY.LONG!

Good morning, Peeps!! Kerri B from Teacher Bits and Bobs here...

One of my kidlets' favorite writing activities is creating "Super Sentences." Now, in my classroom a super sentence is a juicy sentence with the Who-did what-where model. 
For example, instead of writing "The cat jumped." which is BORING, you could write "The big black cat jumped on the fence." TADA! Super Sentence created!!

My kids LOVE this activity. They love stretching out their sentences and making them as "SUPER" as  possible. Here is a  pictures of them writing Super Sentences in September...

And here are some that they have written for December and just today. They have come SOOO far in their writing and I am so proud of what Super Star Writers they have become!!

No longer are they just writing one super sentence per page. Oh heck no! Now, they write all kinds of sentences to complement that first super sentence, and they LOVE it!!

Interested in helping your kids become Super Sentence Writers too?? Check out my Super Sentences to the Rescue Pack...

 Here's a little preview...

Your students can use these mats to learn how to write a “Super
Sentence” with lots of juicy describing words, action words and positional words. Students simply choose one word from each column on the chart to make a “Super Sentence”. They can choose any words from each column that they would like, but I tell them that it has to make sense, unless you're having a "SILLY SUPER SENTENCE" day, which the kids LOVE. They can make any crazy old sentence that they'd like then!!

In the beginning of the year, I use the “Super Sentences” mini books and charts and teach my students to write one super sentence per page, adding a great illustration and labeling. As the year progresses, I transition to the big “Super Sentence” journal and instruct my students to write one super sentence, and then add 3 or 4 more of their own sentences, to make a complete story, including an illustration and labeling.

You can also use these charts with the whole class, projecting them onto your whiteboard and writing a super sentence as a class, which will allow you to model proper penmanship, spacing, and punctuation.

Another fun idea is to have students write a super sentence in their large journal or on separate paper, and then trade it with their neighbor, who can continue the story. This activity fosters teamwork and cooperation.

These charts can be placed in your writing corner for free writing time, used during your writing block, or used in a writing center. You can also use them as a fast finisher choice. 

Your students will also be practicing reading and writing sight words, adjectives, nouns, and positional words by using these charts, since some of the words repeat each month, so the repetition will help them to memorize the word easily.

Here's a closer up view of the charts, which I made in both color and black and white (excuse my colored ink. It is ALMOST out and the colors are all WONKY-I guess another trip to Target in in order!!)...

These writing charts require very little prep. Just print them out, laminate them, and they are good to go. The black and white version you can simply copy and keep in your students' writing journals, so they can pull it out whenever they are ready to write! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!!

You can check this pack out by clicking any picture or link above. :)
Happy Writing friends!!

Kerri B